Walnut Street’s ‘Dreamgirls’ wows with its stars but not much else
The musical with great actors and costumes falters in its overall production.
Closing out Walnut Street Theatre’s 2024-25 season is Dreamgirls, a rags-to-riches story, about a fictional, Supremes-like girl group and the men who try to control their narrative and ride their coattails.
With music spanning various genres of the 1960s, including R&B, gospel, disco, and soul, the women of Dreams dazzle with their incredible vocal performances, while the Walnut’s overall production struggles to keep up.
The story commences as the then-Dreamettes, Effie White (Aveena Sawyer), Deana Jones (Gabrille Beckford), and Lorrell Robinson (Khalifa White), get their first backup singing gig at an amateur singing competition. We are introduced to the men who will seek to control the trajectory of their careers and lives — Effie’s brother and Dreamettes composer, C.C. White (Devin L. Roberts), manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jarran Muse), and starry leading act James Thunder Early (E. Clayton Cornelious).
As we follow the Dreams’ skyrocketing careers, the songs get better and the costumes get flashier, with some wonderful tricks from costume designer Dustin Cross.
The set, however, remains static and plain. With a black floor outfitted with a turntable and the rare use of any further set pieces, the stage seems to swallow the cast with few little lighting tricks coming to rescue.
Director-choreographer Gerry McIntyre and set designer Andy Walmsley rely heavily on the turntable to tell most of the story. A few pretty backdrops are hung for bigger musical numbers, but the scenic elements don’t set up where we are in space and time. There are no scenic indications to establish a change of location when James and the Dreams tour Las Vegas and New York City.
The lacking set mirrors the unbalanced and often underwritten quality to Tom Eyen’s book, which focuses more on the corruption of the male characters, leaving the Dreams lacking agency in what is meant to be their story.
One of the few times we do get an uninterrupted moment of self-actualization from Effie’s character, with Sawyer’s truly stellar rendition of “(And I’m Telling You) I’m Not Going,” it is during one of the few more-furnished scenes, set in a dressing room. McIntyre chooses to keep Sawyer’s entire performance awkwardly behind two long tables, effectively caging her in as if to reinforce Eyen’s strange writing.
The choreography also felt undeveloped. While the Dreams glide with all the poise and sophistication of the era, McIntyre’s dance breaks feel half-baked — though it’s unclear whether that’s an issue of the creation or the execution.
Audiences may expect lively dancing in a large musical, especially one with a turntable, but here it often feels like a distraction from the lack of visual interest elsewhere.
But the singing is truly dazzling. Sawyer received more than one “You better sing!” and White earned roaring applause for her “Lorrell Loves Jimmy” riff. But the lack of an effective set, along with some inconsistencies and dark patches in the lighting kept the production from reaching its full potential.
The Walnut wins in casting a wonderful ensemble of vocalists, but the production doesn’t quite back that starpower with its staging.
Dreamgirls
(Community/Arts) The story of a fictional, Supremes-like girl group and the various men who seek to control its narrative and ride the women’s coattails.
⌚️ Through May 4,📍 825 Walnut Street, 🌐 walnutstreettheatre.org
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